Jordan Frith

Jordan Frith is the Pearce Professor of Professional Communication at Clemson University's Department of English within the College of Arts and Humanities. His research focuses on technical communication, mobile communication, and infrastructure studies, with interdisciplinary contributions across communication, media, and geography. He has authored 5 books and over 40 academic articles, including A Billion Little Pieces (2019) and Barcode (2023). Frith is Editor-in-Chief of the ACM's Communication Design Quarterly and holds editorial roles in multiple journals.

Education:

• PhD, Communication, Rhetoric, and Digital Media, North Carolina State University (2012)
• M.S., Technical Communication, James Madison University (2008)
• B.A., English, James Madison University (2005)

Research Interests: He explores communication infrastructures, mobile technologies, and their sociocultural impacts. His work bridges technical communication, media studies, and science/technology studies, emphasizing how infrastructures shape everyday life and digital practices.

Awards: Recipient of SIGDOC’s Best Paper Award (2024) and multiple article awards from professional organizations. His research has been featured in venues like MIT Press, New Media & Society, and interdisciplinary journals.

Grants: Co-PI on a $214,500 NSF grant (2024-2026) studying socio-technical alliances in exascale supercomputing. His federally funded work addresses the socio-technical dimensions of big science.

Labs/Teams: Involved in collaborative projects on infrastructural literacies, digital placemaking, and locative media ethics. Serves on disciplinary executive boards and organizes conferences on communication and design infrastructures.